


if you're broken i'll mend ya

by isthepartyover



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Gen, Gender-Neutral Five, five uses bsl, i just want five and sam to take care of one another okay, post-mission comfort, spoilers up to s2m23
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isthepartyover/pseuds/isthepartyover
Summary: Sometimes, you need someone to lean on after a mission





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Legendary5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legendary5/gifts).



> For Legendary5, something fluffy (well. I was aiming for fluff :)) about Five and Sam comforting each other after missions. I hope you like it, it's my first time writing something for ZR :)

_(Jolly Alpha Five Niner—Mission Complete)_

Sam orders the gates to be raised and then takes off his headset, making his way out of the comms shack with Maxine right behind him.

He can practically feel the worried looks she must be giving him, but Sam ignores her in favor of making a beeline for the gates to greet Runner Five.

By the time he makes it over there, there’s already a small group surrounding Five, all of them asking questions.

Five looks frustrated, motioning with their hands, and it takes Sam a minute to realize what’s going on, but when he does, he smiles a bit to himself. This, he can handle.

He pushes his way through the people, stopping in front of Five as he starts talking. “Hey! Good to see you in the flesh…the totally-unbroken, skin-not-bitten-by-zombies flesh right? Step back, step back everyone, don’t crowd! Give Runner Five some space! Can’t take in so many new faces right now.”

Five shoots him a grateful smile, tilting their head just a bit before signing. _So you’re the radio man who saved me._

“Yeah, that’s me.” Sam grins, puffing out his chest a bit.

Five looks surprised at that, and they beam at him. _You know BSL?_

“A bit. Was learning it at uni before…everything.”

_I’ll sign slowly then._

“Sounds like a plan. And if you’re going to be sticking around, you can teach me more! Um…what’s your name?”

They frown at that question, thinking for a long moment before signing, _Five is good. You can call me that._

Sam doesn’t know quite what he’s feeling about that; the dark, nauseating twist of grief in his gut battling it out with the part of his brain logically telling him it’s just a number, but he shoves them all back in favor of giving Five a small smile.

“Alright, Five it is.”

***

_(A Voice in the Dark—Mission Complete)_

The cord of his headset stops him from bolting out of the comms shack, and Sam practically throws it off so he can run out and greet Five.

It’s been a long day…night…whatever, and Sam feels a little punch drunk and giddy as he’s headed to the gates at top speed.

Five is covered in dirt and scrapes but doesn’t look to be bitten, and Sam is pretty sure his grin is making him look like a lunatic, but at the moment he doesn’t really care, because something warm and bright is blooming in his chest and he stops close enough to the group checking Five over so that when they’re finished he can greet them.

But then Five looks up and sees him and suddenly they’re running to Sam and flinging their arms around him. They’re shaking a bit, and Sam just hugs Five back, murmuring, “You’re okay, you’re back, you weren’t bit, _you made it_.”

And if both of them are crying a bit, nobody mentions it.

***

_(Aftermath—Mission Complete)_

Sam’s head aches badly and his ears are still ringing from the explosion, and worry is gnawing terribly at his stomach but he knows if he stops moving and helping people he’d collapse in tears and that would _not help_ when parts of Abel are still burning.

The Major had taken over his remaining comms equipment after letting him help fix it up a bit to reach at least some of the runners still out beyond the ruined walls, and he had immediately gone to find Maxine, who put him to work cleaning injuries and bandaging and moving the injured to a relatively clear part of the grounds.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been going for already, but the sky is beginning to darken and there seems to be some semblance of order to the people moving about, and there seems to be less people needing medical attention, which is. Which is good.

He can’t stop though, moving from person to person, even when the ache in his head and the dizziness threaten to overwhelm him.

A hand is suddenly on his, and Sam looks up to see Five next to him, looking solemn and sad and scared, and they look at Sam and sign, with shaking hands, _Are you okay?_

Sam shrugs, and Five frowns, taking some of the torn-up cloth Sam had been bandaging with and pours a little from the waterbottle they had on it before pressing it to Sam’s forehead.

He hisses in surprise and pain, and blinks at the cloth when Five pulls it away and it’s stained reddish-brown.

When had he started bleeding?

Five continues wiping at what feels to be a large scrape on his forehead (must have been after that first explosion, the one that had him falling to the ground and equipment following him during the next ones), and Sam lets himself go still for the first time in hours.

He’s shaking by the time Five finishes, and they look at Sam for a moment before leaning into him, arms around him in some kind of awkward, exhausted hug.

Sam wraps his arms around Five as well, and tries to convince himself that it was going to be okay.

***

_(We Used to be Friends—Mission Complete)_

Sam’s storming out of the comms shack before he’s fully shut down the equipment, only pausing to make absolutely sure that the gates are closed before he’s rushing out of there, chest tight with fear.

Five is finishing up with Maxine when he finds them, and Maxine gives him a small, almost amused look as she confirms that Five is alright before she leaves the two of them alone.

“I-I know Maxine said you’re alright, but-but you are fine, right? Nothing-nothing got you, right?” Sam starts, and he knows he’s babbling a little, but he thinks he can be forgiven for that because he’s spent the last hour or so on edge, fueled by anger and worry.

Five tilts their head and then smiles softly at him, signing, _I’m fine, Sam_.

Sam squints at them. “Are you _sure_? I mean, Nadia did try and get you killed-“

_I’m sure._

Sam nods jerkily, rubbing his eyes. “Okay. Okay. I just- _she tried to kill you!_ If I hadn’t-“

He doesn’t let himself finish that sentence or that thought, nausea twisting his stomach as he tries to find something else to think about.

Five moves closer to him and touches his wrist before signing once again, _I’m fine_.

Sam takes a shaky breath, and nods again. “Okay. Yeah. Okay.”

Five wraps their arms around him, and Sam returns the hug.

“I’ll kill her.” Sam mutters, the venom he was trying to inject into his tone sounding more wobbly than anything else, and Sam thinks he feels Five mouth ‘thank you’ into his shoulder, and he feels like he can breathe again.

***

_(Galvanize—Mission Complete)_

Sam’s waiting at the gates as his runners appear in the distance, and he’s carefully studying each and every one of them, looking for any sign that they’re anything less than alright.

Simon whoops with glee when he spots Sam, and suddenly Sam finds himself wrapped in Simon’s arms, Simon himself chattering away.

“Best you can say about me is ‘always chipper’? Bloody hell, Sam, thought we were _friends_.”

“Oh, lay off, Si.” Jody’s suddenly there, hugging Sam as well and kissing his cheek.

“Yes, lay off, Simon.” Sara joins in on the embrace, and Sam must look as bewildered at that as he feels, because she lightly hits him on the back of the head. “I can be affectionate as well, Sam.”

“You did well, Sam.” Evan says from somewhere nearby, a hand landing on Sam’s head. “Thank you.”

And, well, Sam can’t stop himself from crying then, a full-out ugly, bawl, and all of his runners gather around him even closer, all trying to comfort him, and Sam just feels so thankful that most of them are _okay_ and he can’t stop sobbing.

A hand somehow finds his, and Sam just knows it’s Five, even before they start signing into his palm.

_We’re okay, thank you, you’re okay, I love you too._

Sam feels himself shudder out a breath because he hadn’t expected that last one, hadn’t even considered if Five would figure out what he was going to say (of course they did, Five is _goddamn brilliant_ ), and he looks around at his friends until he finds Five looking at him with a worried smile, and he gently nudges people aside until he’s facing them and kissing Five.

Belatedly, Sam thinks he should have waited until he and Five had a moment alone.

But then again, he should have also done this a lot sooner.

Five is smiling into the kiss, and everyone around them is cheering (Sam is pretty sure he hears Simon whooping loudest of all and Jack telling Eugene that he _totally called it_ ) and he’s is pretty sure he’s still crying a little, and…well, it’s all kind of perfect.


End file.
